Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2018 i TopGear Malaysia

068 BMW S10000RR VS Honda Civic Type R I was just at the most crowded Kia showroom I’ve ever seen. Local distributor Naza Kia was celebrating the arrival of the Stinger GT, which was quite the milestone. As the most powerful car in Kia’s line-up to date, the Stinger GT is naturally the Korean marque’s priciest offering in Malaysia. But the shoulder-to-shoulder experience at the launch party suggested there are more minds open to the idea of a RM300k Kia than most would have predicted. A couple of weeks earlier, I was at the Sepang International Circuit to witness 10 units of Porsche’s new 911 GT2 RS being delivered to their owners all at once. That’s over RM30mil worth of cars in a single paddock, not counting a bigger group…

Hobart, NY is just the sort of place you could do with an all-electric, nocompromise off-roader. Something to navigate the gnarly, snow-covered hills in, enough juice to reach Manhattan – 150 miles south – to blow off some steam, and no pulsating V8 to disrupt the peace. No coincidence this is the home of Bollinger Motors, maker of the B1, the world’s most rugged, aerophobic, all-electric SUV. SUT, to be precise. Robert Bollinger, the boss, likes to call it a Sports Utility Truck. I’m standing in front of the first and only prototype in existence, jacked up in the small workshop where it was built, and there’s definitely a military chunkiness to it. Next door, through the glass partition, is an office occupied by Robert and three of his trusted…

Welcome to the latest one-off from Maranello, for when a normal Ferrari is far too affordable. The SP38 – which uses the chassis and running gear from a 488 GTB – was built for “one of Ferrari’s most dedicated customers” who has a “deep passion for racing”. And very deep pockets. Revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este car show on the shores of Lake Como, the SP38’s “general direction” was inspired by another twin-turbocharged Ferrari, the F40 – whose influence, Ferrari says, can be seen in the rear wing, engine cover, four roundel rear lights and gorgeous five-spoke alloy wheels. The former “creates a suggestive frame surrounding the tail volume”, while the slatted engine cover is a clamshell-type arrangement in carbon fibre. Apart from the wing being 10 times…

Uber likes to disrupt the status quo. The ride-sharing app has become modern shorthand for a minicab, and among the most prominent standard-bearers for the gig economy. Yet, in the face of gigantic financial losses, various personnel departures, dubious ethics and a so-far disastrous foray into driverless taxis featuring a pedestrian fatality while testing in Arizona in March 2018, the company continues to forge ahead with its vision of reinventing urban travel. Its latest idea is UberAir, the “world’s first urban aviation rideshare network”. That’s right, Uber reckons the next step in getting you to the movies or home from a hen night is to have one of its driverless cars drop you off at a Skyport and let one of its four-seater, five-rotor electric aircraft take over for the…

After wrapping up our test drive of the new Peugeot 508 (Page 132) in Monaco, we seized the opportunity to visit one of Europe’s most celebrated car collections, which was just a short walk from our hotel. We’re talking about the Cars Collection of HSH Prince Rainier III of Monaco Museum. Situated along the famously wealthy (and small!) principality’s Terrasses de Fontvieille, the 5,000sqm museum, which opened in 1993, is as rich as and diverse as any that one could imagine, and perhaps a fitting tribute to the principality’s most famous ruler. It’s no secret the late Prince Rainier III, whose romancing of and marriage to American actress Grace Kelly caught the imagination of the world, also had a thing for cars throughout his reign, which lasted from 1949 until…

Volkswagen Touareg £50,000 approx. WE SAY: VW DITCHES OFF-ROAD CAPABILITY FOR A TECH MAKEOVER TO BRING THE FIGHT TO ITS RIVALS When the Touareg was launched, VW was bombarding us with potty torque figures. Now it’s tech. For its MkIII, the flagship has sacrificed its off-roadiness to become more of a premium, hi-tech SUV. Using the same MLB Evo architecture as the Cayenne, Q7, Bentayga and Urus, the car has increased in size but dropped 106kg thanks to aluminium suspension, plus a body that’s largely aluminium too. Being 44mm wider, 77mm longer and lower than the MkII, it’s a bit easier on the eye. The somewhat dumpy looks have been sharpened up with more powerful, svelte lines. But it’s inside where the engineers have gone to town. It’s one of…

BMW X2 sDrive20i RM302,686 WE SAY: MUNICH’S INSTAWORTHY CROSSOVER HAS THE LOOKS TO SPRUCE UP YOUR DRIVEWAY. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL IT’LL DO… It takes a special kind of Bimmer to pull off an extra pair of BMW logos on the sides. We’re talking 3.0 CSL and Z8 kinds of special, which the new BMW X2 clearly isn’t. So when Munich first released pictures of its silkier-framed X1 in all its quirky glory, we weren’t immediately impressed. We are known to approach every even-numbered X model with caution ever since the controversially styled X6 came to be. And while the X2 is visually audacious in a fashion much easier to swallow than the first-generation X6, the additional branding on the C-pillar sticks out like a sore thumb, especially against the…

Volvo V60 D4 Inscription Pro £40,860 WE SAY: VOLVO STICKS RESOLUTELY TO ITS USPs. AND WHY NOT? Been watching some lovely old Volvo-estate promo films. In faded-Ektachrome colours, a safari-jacketed Swedish dad takes the extended family for a lakeside picnic in the PV444 Duett, American team-moms do the school run in 240s, and of course gundog-owning hearties and tweed-capped antique dealers fill their 760s. But the previous V60 wasn’t like that. It was a cute Focus-based ‘lifestyle wagon’. Chances of it swallowing a chest of drawers or a retriever: zero. Well, the new V60 is a proper Volvo estate. It’s 10cm longer in the wheelbase than before. At 4.8m long, it shades the Merc C-Class and Audi A4 estates. That means oceans more rear-seat and boot room. Prices start at…

OPPO celebrated the arrival of its latest flagship smartphone here recently. Dubbed the OPPO Find X, the Android-powered device stands out from its peers thanks to its distinctively sleek looks. The Find X achieves a refined silhouette because of it seamless front and rear design as well as its smoothly inlaid 3D glass on the edge, traits which make it graceful to the eye and comfortable to the hand. It uses an innovative sliding structure that completely disguises the cameras within the body of the phone. When not in use, the cameras are hidden, thus the sleek and uniform exterior. When activated, the camera opens automatically, unlocked and ready to shoot. It’s function and form well done. The stealth 3D cameras not only include the combination of a 25-megapixel front…

Polishing up the daring look of an icon from the 80s, this new and limited offering from leading sunglasses purveyor Ray-Ban, dubbed the Golden Wings, is quite a sight, no pun intended. For starters, it involves extravagant 24-carat gold plating and engraved Ray-Ban/24K logo on the lens. This edition of Wings is exactly what it projects itself to be: high-value, exclusive. Clearly, these sunglasses perfectly frame the attitude of the high-profile player. That attitude is depicted in its flat metal top bridge and temple design, while its superlight, single-piece nose pad literally raises and holds the gold-plated lens in a light, dynamic style. Adding to its allure, each pair of the Ray-Ban Golden Wings is presented in a dedicated box and an authenticity card. If anything, this presentation cries status…

I’ll admit the Honda fan boy in me was chuffed to have experienced the new Type R albeit briefly. However, as amazing as the Type R is, I’m sure many will agree it just costs too much money. So when Daryl Loy challenged me to find a speed purist’s delight with the letter ‘R’ slapped on it that was both faster and cheaper than the Type R, he forgot to specify what exactly I was limited to. So behold, one of the superbike world’s greatest, the BMW S1000RR. Ask any superbike fan, and I’ll guarantee that nine out of 10 worship this Bavarian Banshee of sorts. Yes, as a racer, it hasn’t charted as many WSBK or Isle of Man TT wins as some of its Japanese or Italian rivals…

It’s not so quiet now. I’m not sure how many boys are orbiting the I-Pace because they won’t stand still long enough to be counted. One is plugging a charge lead into another’s ear, while another lounges in the minuscule front load bay. “Hey,” comes a cry from inside, “you can play noughts and crosses on the ceiling.” Within five minutes the locusts have swarmed, discovered every nook and cranny, been to the very depths of the infotainment menu system, and even discovered how to manually adjust the fan speed, which I’d singularly failed to do. You want a car destruction tested? This beats the Nürburgring, hands down. This is the generation for whom electric cars will soon be the norm. These boys know cars, yet not one of them…

THE FUTURE ISSUE A zombie shuffles in our direction, his glazed, lifeless eyes fixed on a glowing screen clamped to a plastic stick. Overhead, a man fires off rounds from his Canon, points hysterically and hops on the spot like a sugar-drunk four-year-old. Stage right, a queue forms outside a glass temple marked with the sacred T. In front of me, an average-looking saloon car. “A system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object” – that’s how the Oxford Dictionary defines a cult. A fair assessment, I’d say, of what Tesla and its all-seeing eye, Elon Musk, have become. It’s certainly not a car company as we know it. Car companies don’t burn through hundreds of millions of dollars every month, consistently miss production targets, keep shareholders…

It’s early July and, in the French Riviera at least, the summer heat welcomes just about every holidaymaker to enjoy some sun, sand and sea. Not in Monaco though. Yes, it has much sun and sea too, but a scenic beach is perhaps the last thing on anyone’s mind coming here. Instead, one of the world’s smallest yet wealthiest principalities welcomes a different sort of crowd, those with deep pockets and bank accounts larger than their pricey yachts moored in the Mediterranean principality’s packed harbours. Perhaps that rich ambience was what drove the folks from Peugeot to host us there to present their latest car, the second-generation Peugeot 508 saloon. Given the way the car looked, Monaco suddenly made a lot of sense as the perfect location to do so.…

It was previewed in Malaysia back in January, and now the third-generation Porsche Cayenne has been officially launched by Sime Darby Auto Performance (SDAP). There are two variants for now, the Cayenne and Cayenne S, featuring new engines and a corresponding upgrade in performance. The Cayenne packs 340bhp and 450Nm of torque from its 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 engine. 0-100 is achieved in 6.2 seconds (or 5.9s if specified with the Sports Chrono option) before reaching a top speed of 245kph. The Cayenne S, meanwhile, comes with a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 that makes 440bhp and 550Nm. It does the century sprint in 5.2 seconds, or 4.9 seconds with the Sports Chrono package. Top speed is 265kph. Yup, fast… It ought to be, since it’s extensively based on the 911. It even…

The facelifted versions of MINI’s 3-door and 5-door Cooper S are now on sale, fitted with the latest powertrains from the BMW Group to deliver both increased driving excitement and better fuel efficiency. The full-fat John Cooper Works variant is also part of the refreshed line-up. The Cooper S is available in both 3 and 5-door forms, but the John Cooper Works (JWC) is limited to the 3-door. Both Cooper Ses are powered by the 2.0-litre 4-cylinder MINI TwinPower Turbo engine, which delivers up to 192bhp and 280Nm of torque, and a top speed of 235kph. The JCW makes 231bhp and 320Nm. The cars also gain a new engine cover made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic which is 13 percent lighter than before. The engine itself is eight kilogrammes lighter.…

What: Type R & 208 GTi Where: Shah Alam, Malaysia We rarely get manual cars to test these days. But when we do, two come along at once. Would this make a good twin test? Who: Ollie Kew and Fast Freddy Where: Santa Pod, UK “You see? I whooped your arse in the race because I have 2,000bhp and balls of steel” Who: Paul Horrell Where: Bodmin, UK Nothing says lunch-on-the-go like a couple of knickerbocker glories Who: Jack Rix Where: Woking, UK Sometimes there’s no option but to channel your inner Brian Johnson: “I’m on the highway to hell” Who: Ollie Marriage and kids Where: Woolhampton, UK Special prize to anyone who can find a kid in this picture who’s actually listening What: Model 3 roof Where: New York,…

Bypassing the traditional press release and champagne-soaked reveal party, Tesla boss Elon Musk took to Twitter, not to wind up the internet for a change, but to tweet specs for new all-wheel-drive, dual-motor versions of the Model 3. The fast ones. The standard all-wheel-drive option, he says, adds $5,000 to the price of a regular Model 3 (it’s $44,000 for the regular long-range version). It manages the same 499 km of range and 225kph top speed of a long-range Model 3, but drops the 0–100kph time from 5.1 to 4.5 seconds. The standard car (that’s the $35,000 entry-level one) with its 354-km range, does it in 5.6 seconds. A range-topping ‘Performance’ dual-motor version Musk claims has “better handling” than a BMW M3, will “beat anything in its class on track”…

Top tip: the GT3 R’s fuel tank can be filled from either the left or right depending on which circuit you’re screaming around. Your personal pit crew will be delighted Good news, if you’re of the deluded belief that the new 513bhp, 6m 56.4secs ’Ring-lapping Porsche GT3 RS isn’t track-focused enough. It comes in the shape of the GT3 R: a track-only, stripped-out racing 911 based on the new road-going RS but sandwiched between the 911 Cup and RSR racers. That means more aero, less weight, more power. The GT3 R is built on an aluminiumsteel chassis, but the roof, front hood and fairing, wheelarches, doors, side and tail sections as well as the rear lid and interior trim are made of featherweight CF composite. And anything that’s normally glass…

£103,715 Engine 3982cc, V8 twin-turbo, RWD, 469bhp, 700Nm Performance 0–100kph in 4.6secs, 250kph, 8.3L/100km, 188g/km CO2 Weight 2075kg Few cars make you feel as warm and gooey inside as the Merc S-Class coupe. And since the facelift it’s got warmer and gooier still, thanks to a new 4.0-litre V8, which in this S560 is as smooth and refined an engine as you’ll find pretty much anywhere. Besides the same tech that got added to the big S-Class last year (more active safety, cleverer adaptive cruise) and a toothy Panamerica grille for the AMGs, there’s nothing else to separate the ‘new’ Coupe from the car it replaces. But we’re not complaining. This is a car that’s every bit as capable a GT as a Bentley Conti or Aston DB11. Sure, it’s…

Aston Martin DB11 AMR £174,995 WE SAY: WANT YOUR V12 DB11 TO ENJOY TWISTY BITS? YOU’LL NEED TO PAY… The DB11 AMR sounds like an upgraded, more sporting version, right? Actually it replaces the standard V12. Why? That’s the $64,000 question. Well, the £174,995 question. Here’s our best guess. The original DB11 didn’t drive as crisply as it should have done. It was fine if you were just cruising about, but when you leant on it, the DB11 kept on leaning. The rear axle was chiefly to blame – too much squidge and roll meant not enough precision on turn-in, and heavy rearward weight transfer on exit. Aston needed to improve it, but not alarm existing owners, so moved the new car away from the old by making it more…

Peugeot 208 GTi From RM116,000 WE SAY: SINCE IT’S THE LAST CHANCE TO GET ONE, WE REVISIT THIS SMALL YET PEPPY, NIMBLE AND VERY DRIVABLE PEUGEOT HOT HATCH For as long as they’ve existed, hot hatches have stood as heroes for many blue collar driving purists worldwide. While they aren’t giantkillers per se, the formula of being small, somewhat affordable yet fun and usable daily drives makes them winners. One such example is the feisty little French number the Peugeot 208 GTi. The last three letters in its name say it all: this is a car built for those who seek the path to driving nirvana. In its recent facelifted form, as featured, the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant has been upgraded to 208bhp and 300Nm, a slight bump up from…

Audi A6 55 TFSI £48,000 est WE SAY: MIDDLE MANAGEMENT IS SPOILT FOR CHOICE… The BMW 5-Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Volvo S90 are all tremendously good cars. The BMW for the way it drives, the Merc for its refinement and the Volvo for its serenity and Scandi-charm. If you’re in middle management and want A Good Car, you are not without options. So the new Audi A6 can’t just be good – it has to be really good, and in pretty much every conceivable way, just to compete. And it very nearly is. Nowadays it’s based on the same platform as the new A7 and A8, so it’s physically a bit bigger than the car it replaces (by 7mm in length, 12mm in width and 2mm in height). But the…

Rewind to the 1940s and 1950s and, more likely than not, you’d come upon the display of gorgeous pin-up girls hand-painted on the noses of mighty bombers and fighter aircraft of the day. Well, you may not find it necessary to go back in time because the world famous ‘British Master’ that is Graham is yet again reviving that glorious artwork from a not-so distant past. The Swiss-based, historic British timepiece purveyor just rolled out another series of its Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art Limited, this time featuring four pin-up girls, hand-painted, of course. Called Belle, Linda, Lucia and Chloe, each has a distinctive persona. For instance, Belle is presented as the poster girl who celebrates the euphoric freedom and emancipation after World War II. Linda, meanwhile, isn’t shy to hit…

PIRELLI COLOURED EDITION P ZERO TYRES Painted calipers not enough? Let us discuss the P Zero Coloured Edition tyres. Made for all the best supercars in sizes of over 19in and customisable in any colour you could ever want, these Joseph-and-his-Technicolor-lacquer-coat rubbers average at £3,000 per tyre. Pirelli has also announced the Connesso upgrade – a smart tyre with an embedded microchip that monitors pressure, wear, temperature and longevity, even offering Pirelli Concierge to find approved dealers via a smartphone app. Price and release date TBC, so you’ll have to stick to the entry-level rainbow ones for now. BLUETOOTH TYRE SPEAKER Here is a full-sized, 205/55R16 upcycled tyre with a huge great speaker in the middle. Forget your Bang & Olufsen in-car audio – with Bluetooth connectivity, this is the…

Car chat. It’s right up there with football banter for immediate alienation of anyone who doesn’t know a double-clutch from a 4-3-3. But something is occurring. I’ve spent two days with the I-Pace and everyone – and I do mean everyone – has a question or five, strident opinions on the charging infrastructure and, judging by the battered Micra they’re driving, no previous interest in combustion-engined cars. Frankly, it’s exhausting, but also a fascinating social shift – the electric car hasn’t yet become personal transport for the masses, but it is mobilising their minds. In a world obsessed with food Deliverooed to your doorstep, cheap taxis at your fingertips and the world’s music library in your earbuds – convenience above all else – the electric car is a chewy one.…

Even if an EV makes sense financially and practically, can it win hearts as well as minds? That’s why the I-Pace finds itself glued to Santa Pod’s Pro Peak Performance start line. How do folks with metaphorical petrol in their veins and literal ethanol up their nostrils take to a battery-powered imposter? Cagily. I join the queue alongside a Mustang with headers sprouting through the bonnet like a mechanical tribute to that scene from Alien. Picking my way down the line is mainly a hazard perception test, because no one who works on a machine that’ll give your kidneys tinnitus expects a car they can’t hear approaching. A Mexican wave of amused frowns follows until I arrive next to Simon Gough’s Racepak Camaro. Its driver looms over, pokes his baseball…

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ANYONE HAS officially driven a Lynk&Co 01 outside of China, or indeed on a public road, and it’s in Sweden, with the weather looking decidedly noir. There’s a depthless nothing of cloud wrapped around the horizon, the temperature is moderate-to-cold, and I’m stood on a beach next to a pier wondering what to make of it. It’s not actively ugly, but it does appear to have influences from across the board – in fact, cover up the badges and you’d be hard-pressed to decide where on earth it came from. There are some nice details, but overall it’s a little… generic – a small, five-seat SUV with a front end that looks like a cross between a Ferrari 599 and Chevy Camaro, one stacked on…

KEY Tesla Roadster Rimac C_Two 1 TORQUE n/a lb ft Fair to say, it will have A LOT 1,696lb ft The same as three McLaren 720Ses 2 CHARGING 80 per cent in 30 minutes (250kW fast-charger) n/a… but we'd bet on 81 per cent in 29 minutes 3 BRAKES n/a but presumably it will have some 390mm carbon-ceramic 4 INTERIORS Minimal, with a chopped Knight Rider-style steering wheels and big central screen. Roof panel lifts out, can be stored in boot No key – facial recognition is enough to unlock/start the car, which can also read your mood. Stowage in the back for two helmets 5 MOTORS 3 One front, two rear 4 Two on each axle 6 RANGE 620 miles* 403 miles (NEDC) *on the industry-standard MUSK CYCLE 7…

BMW Group Malaysia recently unveiled the Concept X7 iPerformance in Malaysia, its first appearance in Southeast Asia. If there was a tinge of deja vu about that, it was because the Bavarian carmaker also previewed the Concept Series 8 here in February in similar fashion. The soon-to-be X7 made its first public appearance at the 2017 Frankfurt Motorshow, and seeing it here brought about the same first impression: the SAV (Sport Activity Vehicle) is huge. The size is not for nothing as it seats six in three rows comfortably. There’s plenty of visual stimulation for the passengers as they get individual screens at the seat-back. At least that’s the case for those in the second row. Third row passengers have to settle for the panoramic roof view. The Concept X7…

More news on the two-wheeled front, this time involving celebrated Italian brand Aprilia as it marked a changing of the guard here. Things began when current importer and distributor Naza Premira Sdn Bhd announced Aprilia would no longer be under its wings effective July 31, a move reportedly agreed between the firm and principals Piaggio Group Asia Pacific. One of the many subsidiaries of local conglomerate Naza Group, Naza Premira Sdn Bhd held Piaggio’s Aprilia brand since 2010, charting plenty of milestones throughout. However, of late, things weren’t as great as it once was. Piaggio Group then appointed Didi Resources Sdn Bhd as Aprilia’s new Malaysian custodian from August 1. The firm is no stranger to the field, having taken care of Aprilia’s sister, brand Moto Guzzi, since 2017. Didi…

UMW Toyota (UMWT) is changing the brand direction of Toyota in the country to meet consumers’ demands and the new challenges in the industry. That’s why it has rejuvenated the “All About the Drive” branding, which is now led by two brand promises: to excite the daily drivers, and to deliver prominence through their products. Naturally, this will also mean that UMWT will provide more high value-added products in addition to rewarding a customer’s ownership experience. All that sounds good and all, but the real excitement comes from the formal confirmation of the Vios Challenge, otherwise known as the Toyota Gazoo (single model) Racing series, for the second season. The format remains the same, with three classes of racing, namely the Sporting Class, Super Sporting, and the Promotional Class that…

Aston Martin’s ultra-luxury, Rolls-Royce-baiting offshoot, Lagonda, has confirmed it’ll unveil an all-electric battery-powered SUV by 2021… and given us this teaser sketch to enjoy. The design will be an evolution of the Lagonda Vision concept we gawped over at the 2018 Geneva motor show. The last time the Lagonda name appeared on an SUV concept, in 2009, the car was powered by a 6.0-litre V12 and looked like the lovechild of a whale shark and a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Already this looks like a commendable improvement.…

This is the BMW X7, BMW’s biggest, most luxurious SUV. It’s a decent chunk bigger than an X5, a touch bigger than a Range Rover (though not quite as massive as a Merc GLS), and can seat up to seven people in leathery, technological comfort. TopGear was invited to do some final shakedown driving before its proper launch later this year, so the car is still in full camouflage, and the interior was covered in carpet, hence the Tron graphics and lack of interior shots. The chunky exterior dimensions certainly pay dividends on the inside. All three rows get plenty of space, although the boot is small when the third row is up – no surprise. There are three sunroofs, so it doesn’t feel claustrophobic, and you can get in…

The dream is over. Caliburnus’s brave bid to build Wales’s – and indeed the entire world’s – first 483kph car has bravely fallen at the final hurdle. Yes, after constructing a holistic customer experience centre, printing two thousand branded polo shirts, and installing a state-of-the-art coffee machine with chocolate sprinkles function, only the very last piece of the puzzle evaded us. Actually building a 483kph car. Or indeed any car at all. Turns out it’s deceptively difficult, and surprisingly expensive, to engineer a car from scratch. Especially when you refuse to compromise on performance criteria, nor having it upholstered in the hides of baby Javan rhinos. Well, sorry for having ‘standards’, the World Wildlife Fund! But we didn’t half give all the big boys a scare. Only last week I…

Aston Martin Vantage £120,900 WE SAY: GT OR SPORTS CAR? WHATEVER, IT FACES SOME VERY STIFF COMPETITION… Taken in isolation, the new Aston Martin Vantage is a terrific car. But no car operates in isolation. They compete. On power, price, philosophy, bootspace, brand, looks, layout – you name it. Because, being capitalists at heart, we’ve learned that competition improves the breed. Bottom line? The Vantage is competing for your money. Aston Martin wants you to invest in it, over and above all the other cars you could put your £120,000 into. And there’s a lot of them about, as £120k is now the sports car/supercar bridging point: Audi R8, Mercedes-AMG GT, various Porsche 911s, McLaren 540C, BMW i8, Jaguar F-Type SVR, Lotus Evora GT430 – they’re all there or thereabouts.…

£85,600 WE SAY: JUST LIKE RESTAURANT WINE, GO FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE LIST… The Exige range has got a bit bamboozling over the last few years. But allow us to make it very simple for you; the new 410 is the one you want. It’s the last iteration of the MkIII Exige before we get a new one in 2020. Until then, the mid-engined lightweight will be divisible into three specs of hardcoreness; 350, 410 and 430. The new middling £85k Sport 410 bridges both the performance and £40k price gap between the other two. The formula is classic Exige; a diddy bonded aluminium chassis with a 410bhp Toyota-sourced supercharged V6. At 1,054kg, it’s the lightest V6 Exige ever and more of a softened off 430 (less downforce,…

Jaeger-LeCoultre recently celebrated the arrival of its iconic Polaris Collection at the sophisticated and newly opened Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur. On display there was the new and complete collection, including two limited editions. The Polaris Collection was inspired by the iconic Memovox Polaris watch from 1968. More than just a single homage to a historical reference, the Polaris Collection takes the spirit of the Memovox Polaris and applies it in several ways to today’s man of action. The collection consists of a three-hand automatic, a chronograph, a chronograph world time, and two models with a stronger vintage feel, the Polaris Date and the Polaris Memovox. In essence, the five-piece line-up sees Jaeger-LeCoultre combining its fine manufacturing knowhow, where all mechanical movements are made in-house, with design and engineering that incorporates…

SPECS HONDA CIVIC TYPE R Price: RM301,928 Engine: 1,996cc 4-cylinder turbocharged VTEC, 306bhp, 400Nm Transmission: 6-speed manual Performance: 0-100kph in 5.8 secs, 272kph Weight: 1,391kg “The FK8 looks like it was envisioned by eyes that worship all things magnificently JDM…” Living in a condominium means having to use a shared parking facility several floors away from your home. It’s a bane for some car guys who like having their pride and joy within sight at all times. The upside for those who occasionally indulge in a bit of car-spotting is that you don’t have to peek through your neighbour’s steel fence to admire his new Ferrari. Unfortunately, there are no supercars with which my humble runabout can rub shoulders in the grittier part of Petaling Jaya I call home. The…

THE FUTURE ISSUE My son drove this car before I did. He’s 13. No laws were broken. My phone rings while I’m being shown around the car by Christian Koch, the VGT’s technical project manager. A breathless voice at the other end: “Have you driven it yet?” “Hey, Luke, er, no, in about 20 minutes or so, I think. Why?” “Well,” and I can clearly detect a giddy excitement at the other end, trying desperately to masquerade as nonchalance, “I already have. Can you just check a couple of things for me? I think the brakes are a bit rubbish and the handling seems clumsy. It’s very fast, though.” A quick snigger and the line goes dead. This is the trouble we now have. Well, that I have as parent…

Honda Malaysia (HMSB) recently reported sales of 51,354 units for the first half of 2018. So how certain is it to meet its 2018 target? In HMSB’s own words: confident. The target this year is 109,000 units and HMSB is nearly halfway there. Bookings in June were 20,000 units, an impressive new record. In a month where sales was boosted by the zerorisation of GST, the City accounted for 36 percent of sales, with the CR-V and Civic coming next on 14 percent each. That strong demand had a downside, however, as buyers of certain models faced a waiting period of up to four months because of it. Inconvenient for the buyers, but a problem other companies would no doubt love to enjoy. HMSB accounted for 17.7 percent of the…

Naza Kia recently celebrated the launch of the Stinger GT, Kia’s first proper rear-wheel drive sports saloon. Two variants are here, the 3.3-litre V6 GT and the 2.0-litre GT-Line, both turbocharged. The first, a T-GDi V6 Lambda engine with a twin turbo, makes 365bhp at 6,000rpm and 510Nm of torque from 1,300-4,500rpm. 0-100kph is done at a claimed 4.9 seconds. The 2.0-litre Theta II T-DGi engine’s turbo is a twinscroll generating 251bhp and 353Nm between 1,400 to 4,000rpm to help push the Stinger from standstill to 100kph in 6.0 seconds. Both variants come with a Kia-designed 8-speed automatic gearbox. The 2.0-litre GT-Line’s box is slightly different, though, in the form of a torque converter that features Kia’s first use of a Centrifugal Pendulum Absorber (CPA). No, it doesn’t mean there’s…

Moto Guzzi custodian Didi Resources Sdn Bhd has just previewed its latest offering, the V7 III Carbon limited edition special. The blacked-out special was on display in Moto Guzzi’s flagship showroom at The Gasket Alley, Petaling Jaya, during the Ram Jam Fest 2018 recently. As its name suggests, it’s based off of the famed Italian marque’s V7 modern classic model. Taking on a darker, meaner stance, the V7 III Carbon trades classic chrome trim and bits for blackened carbon fibre ones. To match that, it’s dressed in a special shade of matte black paint, anodised black billet aluminium metalworks and a specially designed alcantara seat saddle featuring red stitching. Aesthetics aside, the V7 III Carbon is mechanically similar to the V7 III modern classic. In typical Moto Guzzi fashion, it…

Going from one Mercedes-Benz event to another within days, it’s easy to forget the German marque is headquartered in Stuttgart and not in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia seems to be a special place for the three-pointed star after all. We were one of the first countries outside Germany to assemble the S-Class. On the track, there’s something patriotic about seeing Petronas’s colours lining the Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. And then there’s the fact we now have a pair of CKD AMGs. In launching the locally assembled versions of the Mercedes-AMG C43 and GLC43 4Matic, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) put us on the map as one of only two countries (the other being Thailand) to assemble AMG models outside Germany. These models may not feature the…

Imagine Dieselgate never happened. Or even go a few years before that and picture a scenario where the powertrain and reliability issues were nothing more than a blip in VW’s 81 years of history. And then imagine where Volkswagen would stand in the local automotive scene. The good money would be on it being a strong top five brand in Malaysia, enough to take monster-sized bites out of the Japanese dominance for non-national cars. The likes of the Passat and Tiguan would be better placed to take advantage of their decently priced European badge; the Polo would likely have more tech because of earnest volume not based on discounts; and there would likely be a better range of products. Arteon, anyone? And then there’s the Golf. There’s probably not a…

It’s safe to say that since Geely purchased a major stake in it last year – and the subsequent reshuffling of its management – Proton hasn’t been out there as much as it used to be. Well, that’s changing as its upcoming new SUV launch date looms closer. Kicking off last month was the Proton 1 Tank Adventure (#Proton1TankAdventure) for the public and invited guests. The campaign is meant to remind consumers about the impressive fuel efficiency of Proton’s current products, meaning the new generation VVT-engine sedans like the Saga and Persona, and the Iriz hatchback. The challenge began with Ipoh, Perak, for the central region, followed by three other legs in the peninsula’s northern, southern and eastern regions, and one in East Malaysia. We were invited to take part…